


Winter's End

by musicforwolves



Category: Young Avengers
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2010-12-20
Updated: 2010-12-20
Packaged: 2017-10-13 20:00:57
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,030
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/141221
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/musicforwolves/pseuds/musicforwolves
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Teddy and Billy get to be vulnerable around each other. Kate can't say that about herself.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Winter's End

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Lutessa](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Lutessa/gifts).



> Set shortly after the resolution of the Kree/Skrull war.
> 
> This is a transformative work; I do not own these characters. Written for Yuletide 2010.

    WINTER'S END

 

    When Kate walked into the loosely-arranged kitchen of the Young Avengers headquarters, she found most of the snacks on the counter, and Teddy. He'd stretched himself to about seven feet tall to see into one of the topmost cabinets.  
    “Uh, Teddy?” she asked, leaning against the counter so she could see the determined expression on his face. “Are you looking for something?”  
    “Tea,” he replied.  
She looked at him for a moment. “You drink tea?”  
    “Yeah,” Teddy said, digging out a box of teabags that, as it was unopened, Kate assumed had been there for a while. Teddy was obviously thinking the same thing, as he held the box to his nose after ripping the seal off, then shrugged and telescoped back to his regular height. “Why?”  
    “Just doesn't seem like... you,” Kate said.  
    Teddy pulled a mug out of the cabinet. “It calms me down,” he said. He set the mug on the counter and switched on the kettle.  
    Kate watched him for a few seconds, trying to read his face. “Is everything okay? You and Billy?”  
    Teddy grinned, but Kate could see it wasn't totally genuine. “Nah, we're fine. It's the last few weeks...”  
    Ah, so that was it, Kate thought. After Teddy's mom had been killed, and Teddy had been sent through a... vicious custody battle, she'd thought he was doing remarkably well. Even the fact that the Super-Skrull had taken his place at the last second hadn't seemed to faze him. The little quiver that was now in Teddy's hand as he tapped the spoon on the counter, though: that was telling a different story.  
    She wasn't sure how to ask. “You're doing okay... staying with Billy at the moment?”  
    This time, Teddy's smile was less forced. “His mom wants me to sleep in the living room for a few more weeks. Whether it's because she doesn't want me sleeping in Billy's bed, I don't know. Maybe she just thinks that if there's more trouble, they won't have more of their apartment wrecked.”  
    “The Super-Skrull could've knocked, right?” Kate picked up the kettle and poured water into the mug that Teddy held out. “Have you been keeping an eye on that?”  
    “On the Super-Skrull? I'm not too concerned.”  
    “This is important, Teddy,” she said. She didn't want to push the issue too much, but if something went wrong; if the impersonation wasn't as good as they thought, then there'd be trouble later on. “I don't want you to get hurt. I don't want any of us-”  
    “Then stop talking about it,” Teddy said, scowling. “He killed my... I thought she was my mom. That's what hurts, and I don't want to be reminded of it. Okay?” He snatched the mug up and walked out towards the middle of the warehouse, which they'd roughly furnished into a living room.  
    Kate followed him. “Sorry, Teddy. I didn't mean to. You know I just worry about this kind of thing. If it goes wrong...”  
    “Then you deal with it.” He shrugged. The conversation seemed like it was over. Teddy slumped in a chair.  
    Kate wasn't sure how to respond to that. Teddy knew that Kate did a lot of the work with keeping the Young Avengers running, and he knew that Kate knew that too. He was upset, though: angry and looking close to tears. Kate was partly relieved when Billy appeared in the doorway.  
    “Hey, guys,” he said, slinging his backpack on the floor next to the sofa. “What's going on?”  
    “Nothing,” Teddy said through his teeth, and when he put the still-steaming cup of tea on the table, Kate saw the twisted remains of the teaspoon, the end of it almost folded double on itself.  
    Billy noticed it, too. “Are you okay?” he asked Teddy.

    Kate walked back to the kitchen before their conversation got too emotional. She didn't want to be in the way of the two boys – apparently Billy's mom was hindering their ability to be as close as they wanted, and it didn't help that Teddy seemed inches away from breaking down in front of someone. It may as well be Billy, she thought. She saw the pile of junk food that Teddy had haphazardly rearranged while looking for the teabags and starting putting it all away, half out of resignation, half out of nervous energy.  
    She turned around to make sure that they were okay, and she saw Teddy leaning forward like he was sick, his face buried in the fold of his arms. Billy sat on the couch next to him and wrapped one arm around his shoulders, leaning his head in against Teddy's – but it was done very gingerly, almost like Teddy was an origami figure, made from fine points of very thin paper, and if Billy held him as solidly as he could, Teddy would crumple and there'd be no way to fix the damage.  
Billy whispered something to Teddy, then with a gentle stroke across the breadth of his shoulders, got up and walked through to the kitchen.  
    “Will he be okay?” Kate asked, as Billy fetched a glass of water.  
    “I think so...” Billy said, looking back at his boyfriend huddled on the sofa. “This thing with my parents has got him a little upset. My mom's worried that I'm in more danger with him around.”  
    “I didn't mean to say that to him.” Kate threw a bag of potato chips into the back of the cabinet. “It's just that I didn't want things to get worse.”  
    “They're pretty bad already,” Billy pointed out. “Listen, I'll talk about this later, okay? I don't think he's mad at you. Just upset.”  
    He went back to Teddy and offered him the glass of water. Teddy took it with a shaking hand, and looked up at Billy. For a very long time, they just looked at each other. Then, Teddy smiled. Kate noticed, for the first time, that Billy really understood Teddy. Maybe he didn't always grasp exactly how he felt, but he didn't give up trying. Kate, though, didn't have that with any of them. She'd always be the strong girl; the one who kept on fighting. Eli and Tommy looked at her like she was a prize to be won, but they didn't understand her. Even if she hadn't been attacked that night – none of the other Young Avengers knew that anyway, she thought – neither of the boys would put as much effort into understanding her as Billy put into understanding Teddy. And she certainly couldn't be as vulnerable around them as Teddy was at that moment, his face pressed into Billy's shoulder as Billy hugged him with every ounce of strength he had.

 

    “I left the scans on my desk,” Jessica called across the newsroom to Kat, as she slung her bag across her shoulder. “Think you can red-pencil them for Jonah before tomorrow?”  
    Kat nodded, and waved as Jessica left the newsroom and walked through the lobby of the Daily Bugle offices. The elevator doors opened and, standing tall in the middle of the elevator, was Kate Bishop.  
    “Kate...” Jessica started. “What are you doing here?”  
    Kate shifted nervously. “I wanted to talk to you.”

    The Rockefeller Center Christmas tree had been left up for longer than usual. Evidently the mayor had decided the city needed an extra boost after the aerial battle that had turned up over the city a few weeks before, but now it was being taken down by a group of workmen in orange vests and construction helmets. Once, Kate would have spent most nights looking at the tree, but she realised as she walked past it with Jessica that the last time she had been on this plaza, Jessica was asking her why she'd taken up the bow and arrow, and the tree hadn't even been put up.  
    Jessica leaned against the railing. “It sounds like you're boxing yourself in,” she said. “You don't have to spend all your time being the leader.”  
    “It's just easier for the others,” Kate said, resting her chin on her hand.  
    Jessica studied her for a long moment before she spoke. When she did, it was as though she'd finally figured something out. “You were talking about Billy and Teddy like they're somehow different from you. They're Young Avengers, sure. But Kate, they're also best friends.” She took a sip from her hot chocolate, and muttered “Also the biggest fanboys I've ever met.”  
    “Yeah,” Kate replied. “They're best friends.”  
    “And you don't think any less of them for being vulnerable with each other, do you? Why should they think less of you?”  
    Kate shrugged. “Because Teddy-”  
    “I've seen photos of Hulkling stopping a truck being driven by a twice-convicted felon. With one hand. Don't try to tell me that it's more okay for him to be vulnerable than it is for you.”  
    “It's harder for me to-”  
    “I know how hard it is,” Jessica reminded her. “I've been there. It's really hard, which means it takes a lot of work. And I know how hard you work, Kate. I've seen that, too.”  
    Kate sighed and watched the men in orange put the decorations away. It seemed odd, big men that looked like they were lumberjacks on the weekend delicately handling the gold ornaments.  
    “Why are you telling me this?” she asked.  
    “I don't know,” Jessica said. “Maybe it's because I don't want to see you make a big mistake. Maybe it's because my editor told me you guys would be a good chance to practice my mothering skills. But mostly...”  
    “Mostly...?” Kate prompted.  
    “I think you think it'd be easier to give up on that side of you. To never be vulnerable with anybody. But if you do that, if you always carry the weight alone, it'll crush you eventually.”  
    Kate thought about the way Teddy had seemed that afternoon. He'd been so close to breaking in front of her and then, when Billy had shown up, suddenly everything was better.  
    “I guess I'm saying...” Jessica waved a hand uncertainly. “I guess I'm saying that yeah, it sucks going through this kind of stuff, always feeling like you have to be in control. I understand why you feel that way. But look at you.”  
    She trailed off, but Kate felt a little better, like this was all just another problem she could tackle.  
    “I hear Teddy's whole life has just been turned upside down,” Jessica continued, “but he's still Hulkling. Don't assume you can't be the leader and still have a heart. You're Hawkeye. You earned that, so you must be doing something right.”  
    She straightened up and they started to walk again, Jessica a few steps ahead. She turned and glanced over her shoulder at Kate. “You're also my favourite Young Avenger. I thought you should know that.”

 

    Kate looked up at the Young Avengers lair and was surprised to find the lights still on. She typed in the security code, opened the door and climbed the stairs. Teddy and Billy were sprawled together on the couch, talking to Cassie, who was in the kitchen and searching through the cabinets.  
    “I swear,” Kate said, sitting down as Billy and Teddy sat up and turned around to look at her, “I'm going to find a way to leave everything on the counter so you can find stuff without demolishing the kitchen.”  
    Teddy blushed. “Yellow pages?”  
    “Under the counter,” Kate reminded him.  
    “We're, uh... we're getting pizza,” Teddy said. “You wanna join us?”  
    Cassie returned with the phone book and started leafing through the takeout restaurants. “Got any recommendations, Kate?” she asked. “You must've eaten somewhere good lately.”  
    Kate smiled. “Yeah, there's a place by Fourteenth that delivers. Nicolo's.” She pulled out her phone.  
    “Nah, I got this,” Teddy said, taking the yellow pages and starting to dial.  
    Kate rested her feet on the edge of the table. She watched Billy curl up with Teddy and start complaining to Cassie about the latest episode of Project Runway. Something in the back of her mind told her that there weren't any other superheroes that did this on their Friday nights.  
    Somehow, it didn't seem that important.


End file.
